09/30/2025
I have scrolled across this recent CTV article many times over the past few days.
I appreciate this individual for using her own family’s story for creating awareness around estate planning.
Unfortunately, both of her parents passed away in the same tax year at ages 62 and 63.
Upon the death of her mother, her RRSP rolled directly into her father’s RRSP with no tax implications.
Later in the year, her dad passed away with a RRSP account balance of approximately $715,000.
When her father died, the RRSP amount had to be taxed as income at about 50%.
They also had a family cottage that more recently became the parent’s primary residence but were required to pay capital gains from when they owned it from 1998 to 2019.
As a result, most of the parent’s RRSP balance was used to pay the income tax on the RRSP and the capital gains on the cottage.
If you or someone you know has significant amount of money accumulated in RRSP’s, it is very important to plan ahead and learn how your retirement income will be generated while being the most tax efficient as possible both now and in the future.
In my experience, most Canadians over the age of 50 have contributed their entire life into a RRSP and have not utilized a TFSA and / or a Non-Registered Account.
As you begin withdrawing from your RRSP/RRIF in retirement, it could make sense for you to withdrawal more income then you may need so you take the additional money and maximize your TFSA contribution room.
As a result, you can access your TFSA balances at any time without having to pay tax.
In addition, your TFSA’s will be paid to your children tax-free at the time of your death.
Everyone’s financial position is different which is why it is so important for you to have a conversation with a financial professional about how you can plan appropriately — please don’t wait.